LOUSIANA: Bobby Jindal Blocks State Recognition Of Same-Sex Marriage

Gov. Bobby Jindal delayed -- for the second time -- the recognition of same-sex marriage by the Louisiana state government on Wednesday evening. The governor refused to let Louisiana agencies acknowledge same-sex marriage following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last Friday. At the time, he said he was waiting for a lower appeals court to affirm the U.S. Supreme Court's decision, before moving forward with same-sex marriage recognition in Louisiana. But now that the lower appeals court confirmed Louisiana's same-sex marriage ban has been overturned, Jindal has decided Louisiana same-sex couples need to wait for yet another court's decision. "Our agencies will follow the Louisiana Constitution until the District Court orders us otherwise," said Mike Reed, Jindal's spokesman in the governor's office.

In its opinion released Wednesday evening, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made it clear that Louisiana's same-sex marriage ban no longer applies, though it technically sent a same-sex marriage case back to a U.S. District court for reversal. Jindal is saying the state government won't recognize same-sex marriage until the District Court issues its own decision. The appeals court gave the district court until until July 17 to make a new ruling, though it has encouraged the district court to do so earlier. One of the plaintiffs in the case, Robert Welles, is in declining health. "I wait every day for a phone call," said the 52-year-old Welles. "The way I see it, we started this thing in New Orleans, and we want to finish it in New Orleans." But Kyle Duncan, a lawyer working for Louisiana and the Jindal administration, said it makes sense for state agencies to wait to recognize same-sex marriage until the district court ruling. "The court made it crystal clear," he said. "It's when the district court renders final judgment."

You'd almost think that Jindal is hoping that the plaintiff will die before his marriage is recognized.